Two Little Boys
by SkoRn3d
Summary: They would always be together ... best friends 'till the dark finally separated them. But how far can the light take you when your hand's being torn from it? Eventually M for violence and maybe a bitta yaoi.
1. Living the Dream

They were always together … the two of them.

All summer they would scream, hurling themselves into their imaginary battles, predicting a future their mother's would cringe at. They would both of them be soldiers. They would fight in the Kings army, and they would fight side by side. They would never be parted. They were children then; and they didn't know any better, so they played, and made believe that they would grow to be as they were then, best friends.

"Sasuke! LOOK OUT!!"

'_The cannons' roared in triumph as their targets fell. Their aim was true and the men guiding them leapt for joy. But the two comrades were not out _yet_! 'It'll be a cold day in _hell!_ -Naruto! you mind your language!- before we are taken by such ingigsnifigant weapons!!! You'll _NEVER _stop us … BASTARDS!!'_

"Naruto! I thought I told you to mind your tongue ..!" Sasuke lay on the ground clutching at his faux wound and glancing at the slightly younger blonde. About to mock him for his lack of pronounciation skills, Sasuke watched instead as the boy got told off by his mother for swearing … _again_. They'd been playing 'War Heroes.' It was one of their favorites; but it always got them - well, Naruto in trouble. For some reason the idiot couldn't stop himself from cussing whenever they got to the dying parts.

"I'm sorry Oka-san … it _won't _happen again. I _promise_." The dopey little dobe even placed his right hand over his heart when he spoke that precious little gem. Kushina could never stay mad at Naruto for longer than a moment. He looked too much like Minato, and God _knows_ all that man had to do was bat to pretty-blue-eyes at her and she'd melt. Unfortunately, he'd passed on the trait to their six year old trouble-making son. Kushina wondered inside, mumbling something about hitting Minato when she saw him next and smiling. Just a little.

Naruto turned to Sasuke, a mischievous smirk on his face … "I bet I can bet you in a horse race!!" the blonde child hollered, beating on his miniature chest and striding slowly toward his abandoned stick-horse. "Dobe. You couldn't beat me even if I just flat out refused to _move_." Sasuke picked himself up with all the grace of a speeding jaguar and lopped over to his own wooden horse. The eight year old raven-haired boy slowly bent down to retrieve his fallen steed and when he had it set in his hands, Sasuke's glittering jet-black eyes fell to lock gazes with two orbs of ocean-blue; growing darker as the older male held them. Sasuke chuckled to himself and waited for his friend to react - as always, Sasuke was not disappointed.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE _YOU_ LAUGHING AT!!?!" -'_Naruto!!, you're LANGUAGE!'-_

The young raven turned his -now amused- eyes from the door through which Kushina had just yelled toward his fuming friend and waited '_patiently'_ for the count down. Naruto saw the hidden impatience and decided that Sasuke could _wait_. If the prick was gonna laugh at him than he could just sit there getting his breeches in a twist.

'_Naruto, hurry u-'_ "54321! **GO!**" Naruto legged it. Wooden horse flailing uselessly at his side as he sprinted toward what had become their permanent finish line - the old oak branch that fell last spring. He pushed every last bit of energy he had to his feet, willing them to Just. Keep. Going. If they could just keep_ moving_ then maybe, _maybe_ he would beat the teme! It was something that was seemingly _glued_ to Naruto's 'to-do' list; but if his_ feet kept moving_ … then today would be the day.

The bright streak of blonde hair and orange sweats _flew_ past Sasuke … '_You won't get far dobe,' _and he was right. Naruto had yet to beat Sasuke at - _anything_. The blondie kept complaining that it was because he was younger, less developed and whenever that argument wouldn't hold up he'd accuse Sasuke of cheating, saying that his parents' genetically _altered_ him - or his DNA or something stupid to that affect. Naruto always seemed to think that this would automatically qualify him as 'winner' by default . And Naruto wanted to win, bad - so, as the blonde-dummy 'just, kept, moving,' Sasuke came from behind him; carried on inhumanly long legs, moving swiftly alongside the blonde … and -with an uncommon ease- passed him.

Naruto saw Sasuke from the corner of his eye; and watched in unbearable horror as the '_stinkin'TEME!_' beat him easily to their finish line. The frustration that always steamed from losing to Sasuke began to rise in Naruto now; he'd never been a quiet loser and _damn it _he wasn't about to start. But, Naruto was an idiot and as he began to scream that the raced had been 'fixed' he almost completely neglected his tired feet.

Naruto tripped. One of the tree roots had risen out of the ground a few summers back and Naruto -which really shouldn't have surprised Sasuke as much as it did- hadn't seen it. His tired, throbbing right foot slid into the gap and stopped Naruto in his tracks, the young fool fell face first (A/N: _Man_ that's alota 'f's :o) and for a while, he didn't get up.

Sasuke watched as Naruto slowed down, blinked furiously as he saw -in slow motion- Naruto's body fling forward and the toy horse fly from his opening palm. He stood transfixed and horrified. His eight year old mind concluding that, by _beating_ him, Sasuke had effectively _killed _Uzumaki Naruto … Sasuke had killed his best friend - his _only_ friend.

Even before Naruto had started moving, _Sasuke _had started to run. The wooden horse still clutched within his tightening grasp; Sasuke ran, falling to his knees in a frightened heap once he'd reached his friend. Naruto lifted himself off the ground - refusing Sasuke's help - and pushed himself to lean back on his legs. Naruto's whiskered face -scars, reminiscent of a brother long dead- was lined with dirt and tears. His blonde head was covered in muck and now seemed patchy, Sasuke had risen from the ground and held out his hand to his friend. The young blonde merely sat there, gazing around their tear-stained 'battle-field' turned 'race-track,' his sky-blue eyes paused as he noticed a familiar shape lying beneath the old oak tree. A horse head … but it was wrong, '_there's no _neck.' And then he saw it; the stick that had been the torso of his horse, lying some feet away from his faithful steed's head. Naruto stood on shaky six-year old legs, glanced side-long at his friend and then, inching closer to the tragedy that was his fallen horse Naruto let out an unbidden sob. It was _ruined_ … he would never ride it again. And it wasn't even _that - _he would never get to ride with Sasuke, race him or play any of their war games that had horses in them. Naruto knelt beside his wooden toy and silently wept - there was no reason for it he knew, but it was his _toy_. Sasuke had bought him that as a summer holiday _present_ … Naruto _loved_ that horse, and now it was gone.

The tears wouldn't stop. Even when Sasuke moved gently behind Naruto and the blue-eyed boy swiped furiously at his cheeks - the tears just wouldn't stop. Naruto was about to take another swipe at his eyes, getting annoyed now, that the tears wouldn't go away. But one pale hand, adorned by long thin fingers slid smoothly into his line of vision … Naruto followed the connected arm to the face he knew so well. A smiling Sasuke was a rare thing indeed - he usually only did it when Naruto needed cheering up, so now seemed the perfect time for it. The raven-haired boy left his hand outstretched before Naruto, waiting for him to -unquestioningly- take the proffered hand and accept the help given. Naruto did; the unvoiced question burning through his deep azure gaze … '_why_?'

"What? Did you think I would leave you crying ..? You know there's room on this thing for two, right?"

Sasuke nodded toward the back of his stick-horse as he spoke; his lips drooping a bit into a tentative smile. Naruto swung his leg over the 'body' of the horse and as he did so his head came down to rest on Sasuke's shoulder and his arms went smoothly around the waist before him. The older boy hadn't finished his little speech yet, so Naruto sat there, and listened as his friend's breathy voice washed over him and numbed his hurt.

"Climb on Naruto; we'll _both_ fly," Sasuke hoped that Naruto knew the significance of that line -Naruto's father always calls him a 'flying fox'. "You won't slow us down Naruto, we can go just as fast together …" He glanced behind him and saw his little blonde smiling. "Hey, do you think about when we get older - we're both gonna be soldiers right?" behind him, Sasuke heard Naruto's sleepy sigh of agreement. "And our horses aren't gonna be _toys_; well - I wonder if we'll remember this … ya know, when we were kids. If we'll remember back when he were just, two little boys."

**AN: Okay, this is just the first chapter … please tell me what you think of it.**

**The song 'Two little Boys' is by Rolf Harris. I was listening to it the other day and this whole paragraph just shot through my head -weird I know but that's how it happen- unfortunately it was for the second chapter.**

**So yeah … review? Please? I won't badger anyone but I just want to know what you think. :o)**

**Ja ne!**


	2. The Time Between

Long years passed; and all that they took was too much pain for Sasuke to bare.

His sun … the years had all but slain him of his joy. Naruto had left; with the passing years he had gone from the old oak tree, and the one stick-horse that had become their shared stallion. The warmth was absent in Sasuke's life. The sun gone, the sky as dark now as his lifeless eyes and black as his broken heart. Sasuke's nights, still years after Naruto's departure, were filled with silent tears and memories of broken toys and blonde locks resting softly against his shoulder. He missed his Dobe. He wanted him back.

But_ as_ the years changed, and they did, so did the neighbours.

The idiot realtors that were in charge of selling Naruto's house hadn't given Sasuke a 'new best friend' as the idiotic blonde had promised -not that Sasuke had ever _really_ expected them to, instead they had forced some -even more idiotic- petal pink-haired _wretch _onto him. _Haruno Sakura_. Once the hindrance that plagued him for a time, she quickly became the 'bitch that stalked him.' Sakura was the main reason Sasuke had cried at night, pining for his lost Naruto. But that was six years ago, his tears had ceased now and the fact that Naruto was gone now would never stop Sasuke from remembering the awesome fun they'd had. Nothing could take away the summers they'd spent together. Not even Sakura could rob him of his memories, try as she might. Especially in _these_ times, when the sun shone unbearably bright; when Sakura had forced her company on an unsuspecting Uchiha household and Sasuke's mind wondered back ...

"_Sasuke-kun?_ Did you hear me?" Again the resounding _gong_ was ringing at his ear-drums. Sasuke couldn't help but wince as he glanced up at the stupid sickening -suposed to be sexy- smile now plastered on her pasty face. Her faded green-eyes trying desperately to sparkle. _'Hn, stupid-head. Can't even wait for an answer,'_ Sasuke thought as he watched Sakura's lips move without pause.  
"-just assuring your mother that you weren't planning on heading into this silly war Sasuke ... You see _Mikoto_," Sakura leaned forward and lightly held Mikoto's fingers as she breathed the name, "-the whole thing isn't really Sasu-kun's scene." Mikoto giggled slightly as she glanced across to her fuming son, gently pulling her hand away without seeming rude. It was painful; containing the laugh that longed to slide from her throat, she could almost see the smoke drifting from his ears it was quite amusing. She would have stopped the bluthering girl but she hadn't giggled at Sasuke in such a long time that the notion to stop completely left her.  
"Anyway-" '_please stop talking please stop talking please stop **talking**,_' "-I think Sasuke and I should be off now. I told my mother that he would met her for lunch." At this Sasuke finally decided to find his voice box. After a near-embarrassing coughing fit, Sasuke glared at the pink-haired twit piled beside him.

"_What_?" Sasuke's perfectly shaped brow rose just a bit, and Sakura was sent into a mad sweat. She wasn't suposed to _tell_ Sasuke until he'd dropped her off at her house.  
But, Mikoto was done giggled and she knew a 'Sasuke-tantrum' when she heard it.

"Actually Sakura. I've already asked Sasuke to accompany me into town today. Sorry but ..." She had to think fast; Mikoto may have been an Uchiha but she wasn't _born_ one. Quick of wit and naturally smart though she undoubtedly was, she was _not_ built with an inate ability to _lie_.  
"-um, _mothers come first. _Sorry." She offered Sakura one withering grin, It was neither beight nor convincing but Sakura wasn't about to dispute it.  
And Sasuke was looking at his mother like she was the best thing since caramel ice-cream.

'_God that boy looks like Itachi.'_

She knew better than to voice the thought but Mikoto's smile brightened nonetheless as she realised there was an actual legitimate reason to have her sone with her that day.  
"...Besides," Mikoto sighed half-heartedly, glancing pointedly at Sasuke then turning her evil grin on Sakura. "Sasuke's letter came in just yesterday and there are still a few things that he needs to get."  
Mikoto laughed a little behind her hand as she watched her son raise gracelessly from his seat -eyes buldged and breathing slightly increased- and dragged the pink-haired 'eye-sore' with him to the door.  
Sakura could be heard all the way to the front gate "-_LETTER SASUKE??!? _WHAT DOES SHE **_MEAN!!?!_** SASUK-"  
The only thing really heard after that was teh turning of the gate-lock -a necessary precaution- and Sasuke's hurried footsteps. Well, hurried for Sasuke anyway.  
He reappeared moments later. Not a hair out of place; breathing calmed and now in time with his long languid strides.

But as he sat opposite her; Mikoto couldn't help but see something else, lingering gently behind his eyes. He finally looked - _alive_. Like she hadn't seen him since ... _Naruto_.  
Words unbidden flashed before her eyes, and again she sighed as she let herself remember them.

_STANDING BEFORE THE LAUGHING FACE OF DEATH, HE TRUELY COMES ALIVE ... ALL FOR THE SAKE OF LOVE,' ... 'and a broken wooden-horse.' _she added sadly as an after-thought. Mikoto ran her startling gaze along the length of her son - her little boy. "Come on Sasu-chan. We have alot of things to get."

**~_SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN~SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN~_**

The war had escalated so quickly.  
it had come so fast. But they were both prepared to do their duty. Sasuke had been right; there horses were no longer toys and the rifle at Naruto's shoulder would not disappear when his mother called him in for dinner.

_... Dinner ..._

Naruto's stomach called and Sasuke was ready for it.  
"_Dobe_!" Sasuke couldn't help but smile at being able to call on his idiot friend, "-keep that damn stomach of yours _quiet_!"  
He'd been waiting for the idiot to make a sound all damn night, and now that he _had_ -not two minutes after they'd eaten- Sasuke was pissed, maybe a bit unjustly, but he was still pissed.

"Then _feed mee_ Teme!" was the blonde's whispered (and late) reply. "I can't run on _water and stew **fool**_," Sasuke's fingers twitched. Oh how he wanted to strangle his Dobe right now.  
"_Teme_, are you even _listening_ to me!" Naruto was gesticulating wildly; if they weren't in such an obsured situation '_stupid war_' Sasuke would've been laughing loudly at the blondes facials. He was so desperate he had almost changed colour. It was quite amusing.  
"**RAMEN _TEME_! **Give me RAMEN!"

Sasuke sat there and smired as his idiotic friend screamed as quietly as possible. The blonde almost in tears nowm he'd gotten himself all worked up and _now_ all he could think about was his heavenly/_nasty gluttonous_ snack.  
Tan, pouting lips where just openeing to complain some more no doubt but Sasuke had thought of a way to shut the dobe up.  
"You know, _Dobe_?" he waited till he Naruto's unyielding attention. "You sound worse than _Sakura-chan_ when you start your complaining." Blue eyes widened, then shurnk. Shocked and annoyed that the evil-temeloving-cow was even mentioned at a time like this.

'_We're at **war** for Christ's sakes. Out here in the wilder-wild and he's thinking about **her!**?_' Naruto's face displayed perfectly the contents of his thoughts. Shock, bewilderment. SHOCK!.. _confusion. _And hurt, He was _thinking _about her ... and he was _smiling_. Uchiha men didn't smile. EVER.

"Shut up, Sasuke." And that was that. Naruto no longer felt like baiting the teme into an argument, so he rolled over and thought about him instead.  
About their youth, the summer games that had haunted his separation from Sasuke and then, after every thought was exahausted. He thought about _her, _the first day he met _Sakura_


End file.
